withallyourmind.net

The problem with naturalism, the belief that nature is all there is, is that we cannot live with the beliefs it entails. One can mentally assent to a belief that there is nothing beyond the natural world, however, he finds it necessary to live as if his belief is not true.

Marvin Minsky once said that the human mind is nothing but a “three-pound computer made of meat”. However, in his book The Society of Mind, he states:

The physical world provides no room for freedom of will…That concept is essential to our models of the mental realm. Too much of our psychology is based on it for us to ever give it up. We’re virtually forced to maintain that belief, even though we know it’s false.

Being made in the image of God, human beings inescapably believe in things like human freedom, even though they “know” they are false.

Philosopher John Searle said:

We can’t give up our conviction of our own freedom, even though there is no ground for it.

At least, there is no ground for it in a naturalistic or materialistic worldview. The things that mean the most in life are nothing but useful fiction, from that viewpoint. Francis Schaeffer argues that modern thinkers often take a “leap of faith” into the realm of values, dignity, meaning, and significance. Intellectually they embrace naturalism. However, because that philosophy does not fit their real-life experience, they are forced to affirm a contradictory set of ideas like moral freedom and human dignity, even though these things have no basis in within their own intellecutal framework.

A Christian worldview, on the other hand, enables one to have a coherent philosophy of life, in which he does not have to make a blind “leap” into meaning when he knows there is none.